Thursday, May 14, 2015

AMERICA’S IMPERIAL MOMENT

For a brief period the constraining influences of
isolationism and anticolonialism were abandoned, and the United States engaged
in direct imperialism and the acquisition of colonies. There was a range of
motivations that propelled this short-lived effort at formal colonialism. By
the 1890s the frontier in the continental United States had begun to close, and
Americans began to look beyond the territorial confines of the United States
for economic and other opportunities. This would include emigration to Alaska
and various areas of the Pacific and Caribbean. In addition, the growing
popularity of the inherently racist social Darwinism meant that many Americans
accepted the notion that they were destined to rule over other peoples.
Compounding these trends was a missionary impulse that convinced many in the
country of the necessity of taking a more proactive role in the world to
civilize and uplift native peoples and protect them from the worst ravages of
European imperialism.

In the later stages of the nineteenth century, imperialism
became a domestic political issue. In 1885 President Grover Cleveland
(1837–1908), a Democrat, announced that the party would oppose future expansion
or the acquisition of new territory. Cleveland resisted efforts to annex Hawaii,
and after he left office following his second term in 1896 his successor as
leader of the party, William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925), became noted for his
opposition to an expansionist foreign policy. The next Democratic president,
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), frequently authorized military expeditions to
support his foreign policies, which were paradoxically rooted in idealism,
support for international law, and self-determination. Wilson’s use of realist
policies, including military interventions, to pursue idealistic goals
foreshadowed the rise of internationalism within some circles of the Democratic
Party and paralleled the internationalist wing of the Republican Party.

A growing number of elites in the United States also sought
to operationalize the theories of naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer
Mahan (1840–1914). Mahan argued for the need to create and maintain a powerful
naval force to protect American commercial and political interests abroad.
However, to maintain such a navy, the United States would need ports for
refueling and repair around the globe. Mahan’s arguments were diametrically
opposed to traditional American isolationism, and he urged a more proactive
role for the United States in the global arena. Adherents of Mahan’s theories included
such prominent figures as future president Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and
Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924), a powerful member of the U.S. Senate. The
Pacific Ocean was of particular importance to Mahan’s supporters because many
perceived that the centuries-old westward movement of Americans would continue
into the region. When U.S. Marines supported the American-led insurrection in
Hawaii in 1893, it marked the onset of the nation’s imperial moment.

Victory in the
Spanish-American War (1898) allowed the United States to acquire several
colonies, including Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. It also led to U.S.
occupation of other areas, such as Cuba, and it ignited a vigorous debate in
the United States over imperialism. While pro-imperial advocates, including
Roosevelt and Indiana senator Albert Beveridge (1862–1927), extolled the
virtues of American expansion and the duty of the United States to promote its
values and ideals among other people, a range of opponents to American
colonization also emerged. Ardent anti-imperialists, including Samuel Gompers
(1850-1924), Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), and William Graham Sumner (1840–
1910), formed the Anti-Imperialist League in 1899 to oppose U.S. expansion.

Among the foremost concerns of the anti-imperialists was the
incompatibility of democracy and empire. They argued that a nation that
promoted self-determination and individual freedom could not also engage in
imperialism. Anti-imperialists were particularly upset over the military
campaign waged by the United States against Filipino insurgents who sought
independence. The antiimperialists noted that the Filipinos were fighting
against a colonial power in the same fashion that Americans had once fought against
the British. Many anti-imperialists also had less noble reasons for opposition
to imperialism, including a fear of immigration from newly acquired territories
and a belief that annexation of such territories would undercut American values
and ideals because the inhabitants of these regions were perceived to be
inferior to Americans.

Initially, American public and political opinion seemed to
be on the side of the imperialists. In addition to the direct annexation of
territory, the U.S. Congress enacted the Platt Amendment (1901), which reduced
Cuba to the status of an American protectorate and gave the United States the
right to intervene militarily. In their efforts to increase circulation, the
leading newspapers of the day openly supported and even encouraged expansion by
exaggerating stories and news items in a jingoistic style that came to be known
as yellow journalism.

Following the assassination of President William McKinley
(1843–1901), Theodore Roosevelt, an ardent imperialist, became chief executive.
Roosevelt undertook a number of actions to expand American influence,
particularly in the Caribbean. He envisioned the Caribbean as an ‘‘American
Lake’’ and frequently used American power to further U.S. interests.
Roosevelt’s policies and style, as well as his willingness to use military
force and the threat of military action, would be replicated by successive
American presidents both in the Caribbean and the broader world.

A keen student of history, Roosevelt realized that the
United States could avoid the costs and problems of empire by avoiding direct
annexation of territory through the implementation of some of Mahan’s theories.
Instead of stationing large numbers of troops in economic or strategic areas,
the United States could use its naval power to force regimes to comply with
American demands and interests. This would allow the United States to develop
spheres of influence around the world without the cost of maintaining a
military garrison or a civil service. In addition, the policy meant that the
United States could avoid charges from both domestic and international
audiences that it was forming an empire. Roosevelt’s strategy was a
modification of British gunboat diplomacy, but it was based on the same
premise: install a friendly regime and use a combination of naval power and
rapidly deployable troops, such as the U.S. Marines, to support the local
government.

This indirect form of imperialism would be repeatedly
utilized throughout the twentieth century. There was a range of military interventions
in the Caribbean throughout the early 1900s. In spite of pledges to formulate
and implement a less intrusive foreign policy, presidents from both parties
utilized military interventions in order to secure American interests. The
major modification to the strategy of using military intervention to maintain
spheres of influence would be the post– World War II rise of covert operations
to replace overt military deployments.

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About Me

Mitch Williamson is a technical writer with an
interest in military and naval affairs. He has published articles in
Cross & Cockade International and Wartime magazines. He was
research associate for the Bio-history Cross in the Sky, a book about
Charles 'Moth' Eaton's career, in collaboration with the flier's son,
Dr Charles S. Eaton. He also assisted in picture research for John
Burton's Fortnight of Infamy.
Mitch is now publishing on the WWW various specialist websites combined
with custom website design work.